A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank cut its position in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS - Free Report) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 338,900 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.23% of A. O. Smith worth $23,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its position in A. O. Smith by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of A. O. Smith by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,353 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in A. O. Smith by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,062 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in A. O. Smith by 539.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 19,062 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 16,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in A. O. Smith by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the period. 76.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AOS shares. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded A. O. Smith from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $80.86.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

NYSE:AOS traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.47. 4,061,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,028,083. The company has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.54. A. O. Smith Co. has a 52-week low of $64.55 and a 52-week high of $92.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. A. O. Smith's payout ratio is presently 37.47%.

Insider Activity at A. O. Smith

In other A. O. Smith news, SVP Douglas Samuel Karge sold 419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $27,507.35. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $180,471.85. This trade represents a 13.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of A. O. Smith stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total value of $67,356.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.